Pineapple Wine

I am going to blame Ian @allotment4hens and Weeke Farm Chickens @weekechickens for this entry and for the likely stinking headache I am going to have tomorrow morning.  :-)

I warn you now, there is nothing to do with chickens and hens in this post!  But it does deal with wine!!!

About 6 months ago I decided to make some wine.  I had the demijohns and some basic kit from my home brewing fascination.

I found a book by CJJ Berry called First Steps in Wine Making.  It is brilliant, so try and get a copy if you like making your own wines.  Its a great introduction and really is very easy!

Don't ask me why, but I decided on pineapple wine.  No I did not grow the pineapples down the allotment, I live in Wales.  Leek wine would be a better option ;-)  Actually this year it was the weeds, so perhaps, bramble and dandelion would have been more appropriate.

The pineapples were on offer so I bought 5.  1 to eat and the remaining 4 were used for the wine.

Its very easy and in 6/7 months I have gone from this to this

 And tonight, this.  Hic!

Here is the recipe, if you can get hold of a copy of the book I would recommend it.  The pineapple wine is lovely, although mine has a slight fizz to it.  So maybe I bottled to early, but it tastes lovely.

C JJ Berry's recipe for pineapple wine.

Here you go.  One thing I would say, I used a fermenting bin rather than earthenware crock, this way I knew it would not get contaminated as I fitted a bubbler.

Ingredients:
4 pineapples
2 lemons
9 pints water
3 1⁄2 lbs. preserving sugar
level teaspoon Yeast
Yeast nutrient (see instruction on yeast nutrient packet)

Method:

"Top and bottom" the pineapples, then slice them into a one-gallon saucepan and cover with three pints of water.
Bring to boil, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Strain on to sugar in earthenware crock, and add remaining six pints of water, cold. Add the juice of the lemons. Stir well to dissolve sugar thoroughly, and leave to cool to blood heat. Then add yeast (wine yeast, a level teaspoonful of dried yeast, or 3⁄4 oz. of baker's yeast), and a yeast nutrient if desired. (I used a general-purpose wine yeast and a teaspoonful of a proprietary nutrient).

Cover the pan closely for a week and leave it in a warm place, giving a daily stir, and then transfer to fermenting jars or bottles, which should be filled to the bottom of the neck and fitted with fermentation traps. Keep in temperature of about 60 degrees until wine begins to clear and has thrown a substantial sediment, then siphon off into clean bottles. Allow it to throw a fresh sediment, then siphon off into clean bottles and cork.

This is a delicious light wine with a delightful bouquet. 

Thanks for reading and hope you found it interesting.